Prof Gaetano Pentassuglia
School of Law
Faculty of Business and Law
Email: G.Pentassuglia@ljmu.ac.uk
Dr Pentassuglia is Professor of International Law at Liverpool John Moores University. He is currently Research/Impact Lead and Director of the Centre for the Study of Law in Theory and Practice (LTAP) within the Law School. He is also an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool, where he taught for slightly less than two decades. Prior to moving to Liverpool, he taught and researched for a number of years at the University of Munich. He teaches international law and human rights.
An international lawyer by education, Professor Pentassuglia is best known globally for his work on group accommodation, minority protection and self-determination in international law. His book Minorities in International Law, 2002 rapidly became (and is still today) a classic title in the field. Professor Pentassuglia has authored approximately sixty publications, including four monographs, four edited collections, one multi-authored guide and several articles in prestigious legal journals.
Professor Pentassuglia has been a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and has taught as a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto, University of Palermo, Academy of European Law, EUI, and University of Deusto, among other institutions. He has been awarded a prestigious Visiting Professorship at LUISS Rome in 2024.
Professor Pentassuglia has been the recipient of various research awards over the course of over two decades, including major postdoctoral fellowships, such as the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship (which he received twice), and other funded research positions at highly regarded research institutions.
He is co-Editor of the International Journal on Minority and Group Rights and serves on the advisory boards of Europa Ethnica and Human Rights and Identity. He has acted as expert for international and nongovernmental institutions, most recently for the OSCE (with which he retains an active link), and is a former member of the International Law Association Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He is also a frequent contributor to online magazines and discussion forums.
Professor Pentassuglia welcomes strong proposals for doctoral and post-doctoral research in any area sitting at the intersection of group accommodation and international law (theory and practice).
Journal article
Prina F, Pentassuglia G. 2023. Ukraine’s Law on National Minorities and ‘Effective’ Participation: Expanding or Diluting Standards? International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 30 :880-930 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. 2023. Conceptualizing National Identity in Self-Determination Practice A Cross-Cutting International Law Analysis Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, 11 :238-270 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. 2022. Effective Minority Participation as a Balancing Act: What Role for the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities? OSCE Insights, 2021 :1-14 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. 2021. Sovereignty and Minorities: Towards Reshaping Postcolonial National Identities? Nordic Journal of International Law, 2021/9 :526-533 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. 2020. Assessing the Consistency of Kurdish Democratic Autonomy with International Human Rights Law Nordic Journal of International Law, 29 :168-208 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. 2017. Self-Determination, Human Rights, and the Nation-State: Revisiting Group Claims through a Complex Nexus in International Law International Community Law Review, 2017/1 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Pentassuglia G. Ethnocultural Diversity and Human Rights: Legal Categories, Claims, and the Hybridity of Group Protection Yearbook of Polar Law, 2015/6 :250-317 DOI
Pentassuglia G. Towards a Jurisprudential Articulation of Indigenous Land Rights European Journal of International law, 2011/22 :165-202 DOI Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. The EU and the Protection of Minorities: The Case of Eastern Europe European Journal of International Law, 2001/12 :3-38 Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. The Strasbourg Court and Minority Groups: Shooting in the Dark or a New Interpretive Ethos International Journal of Minority and Group Rights, 2012/19 :1-23
Chapters
Pentassuglia G. 2019. Group Identities and Human Rights: How Do We Square the Circle in International Law? Biro' A-M. Populism, Memory, and Minority Rights: Central and Eastern European Issues in Global Perspective :281-310 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers DOI Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2018. Do Human Rights Have Anything to Say about Group Autonomy? Pentassuglia G. Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights : Challenges and Critiques :125-167 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers DOI Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2018. Introduction: The Unpacking of Ethno-Cultural Diversity Pentassuglia G. Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Challenges and Critiques :1-25 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
Pentassuglia G. 2013. Protecting Minority Groups through Human Rights Courts: The Interpretive Role of the European and Inter-American Jurisprudence Vrdoljak A. The Cultural Dimension of Human Rights :73-116 Oxford University Press Publisher Url
Books (authored)
Pentassuglia G. 2018. Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Challenges and Critiques Pentassuglia G. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2018. Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Challenges and Critiques Pentassuglia G. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2009. Minority Groups and Judicial Discourse in International Law: A Comparative Perspective Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2002. Minorities in International Law Council of Europe Publishing Publisher Url
Pentassuglia G. 2000. Defining "Minority" in International Law: A Critical Appraisal Juridica Lapponica No. 21, Lapland’s University Press
Pentassuglia G. 1996. La rilevanza dell’obiezione persistente nel diritto internazionale Laterza Publisher Url
Report
Pentassuglia G, Guliyeva G, Barelli M, Errico S. 2011. Minority Groups and Litigation: A Review of Developments in International and European Jurisprudence Publisher Url
Fellowships:
LUISS, Guido Carli Visiting Professorship/Fellowship, LUISS, Rome, https://www.luiss.edu/. 2024
Award:
Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research, LJMU. 2023
Media Coverage:
‘The Hamas-Israel Conflict: Three Reminders for the Long Run', Reset Dialogues 2023
‘Ukraine War: What’s Behind Putin’s Ethnic Irredentism?’, Reset Dialogues 2022
External committees:
OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions, OSCE Network, Steering Committee, Member, https://osce-network.net/. 2021
Research Grants Awarded:
ESRC, Impact Accelerator Funding on Minority Participation, Co-Investigator with Glasgow University, Dr Prina, Grant value (£): 15K, Duration of research project: 1 year. 2021
LJMU/Research England Policy Impact Funding, Minority Protection and Social Cohesion, Grant value (£): £6,000, Duration of research project: 6 months. 2021
External collaboration:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/law/staff/gaetano-pentassuglia/, University of Liverpool, Honorary Senior Fellow. 2021